U.K.'s Security Council Meeting About Nerve-Agent Attack

Britain's National Security Council is scheduled to meet on March 12 to discuss the nerve-agent attack on a former Russian spy and his daughter in the British city of Salisbury.

Prime Minister Theresa May will chair the meeting with senior ministers, who will receive an update on the investigation into the attempted murder of the 66-year-old Sergei Skripal and his 33-year-old daughter Yulia Skripal.

Officials say the pair remain in a 'critical but stable condition' at a Salisbury hospital after being exposed on March 4 to a nerve agent.

A police officer who fell ill after attending the Skripals also remains seriously ill.

The investigation is now in its eight day, and the exact nature of the nerve agent has not been publicly disclosed.

The chairman of the British parliament's foreign affairs committee said on March 12 that the poisoning looked 'awfully like it was state-sponsored.'

'We're expecting the prime minister to make an announcement soon and frankly I would be surprised if she did not point the finger at the Kremlin,' lawmaker Tom Tugendhat told BBC radio.

The Kremlin has denied involvement and asserted that anti-Russian hysteria is being whipped up by the British media.

Skripal, a retired Russian military intelligence colonel, was convicted by a Moscow military court in 2006 of 'high treason' for passing secrets to Britain's Secret Intelligence Service. He was one of four Russian prisoners released in 2010 in exchange for 10 Russian sleeper agents detained in the United States.

England's chief medical officer said during the weekend that traces of the nerve agent used to poison Skripal and his daughter had been found in a pub and a restaurant the two visited before falling ill.

Sally Davies, the chief medical officer, on March 11 urged an estimated 500 people who may have come into some contact with the substance to wash their clothes as a precaution and clean items such as mobile phones, handbags, and eyeglasses.

'There has been some trace contamination by the nerve agent,' Davies said. 'I am confident this has not harmed the health of anyone who was in The Mill pub or Zizzi's [restaurant].'

Trace amounts of the substance were found on and around a table where the pair had eaten in the restaurant, the BBC reported.

Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has said that Britain might step up sanctions against Russia if it finds that Moscow was involved.

Home Secretary Amber Rudd said on March 10 that it was still 'too early' to say who was behind the poisoning.

She has said police were examining more than 200 pieces of evidence, had identified more than 240 witnesses, and were looking through security camera footage.

The Kremlin has denied involvement and asserted that anti-Russian hysteria is being whipped up by the British media.

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